Schematic drawer?

[MrMikey83]

I need a schematic drawing program that includes the ATMEGA controllers.
Thanks
~Mike

 

[evandude]

well technically eagle would be a good choice, because of how easy it is to make custom parts to put in the library...

that's what i've done with all the PICs that weren't in there... it takes maybe 10 minutes once you figure out how to do it.

 

[loosewire]

Did you do this by copying an existing device/package and then modifying it, or did you make them from scratch?

I just downloaded the trial version of Eagle a few days ago and am struggling with some aspects of it. The help that comes with it seems to be rather circular and assumes knowledge about the program that I don't have. Do you know of any sites with some good Eagle tips or tutorials?

 

[evandude]

First off, ignore the help files that come with it. They have never helped me, not even once. A lot of the help file is geared toward the command-line interface that people in industry might use, not the graphical editors that you normally use. Your best bets for help are Google, and asking around on this board.

**broken link removed**

that's what got me started making parts.

I sometimes copy from other packages, but often make my own from scratch, as it's not really any harder.

The trick to making the PCB layout portion of a part is to make sure you set your grid to the right dimensions so the pins wind up in the right places, and the key to making the schematic symbol for a part is to make sure that you set the grid the SAME as you use for actually drawing schematics. Typically that's 0.1 inch. You can change the grid to get more intricate part symbols but make sure that the contact points of the pins end up on the grid crossings, otherwise when you go to hook a wire to it on a 0.1" grid in your schematic, it's not going to line up. That was something that took me a while to figure out, as stupid as it may sound.

 

[loosewire]

Thanks for the info and the link! I now have a nice symbol for the Sharp GP1U26X. The tutorial link is awesome - I am certain that I would have never figured this out with just the help file.

Sorry about hijacking the thread Mike :? But after stepping through the symbol creation, I think you'll find that evendude is right about being able to easily add your own symbols for the ATMEGA controllers.

 

[MrMikey83]

Eagle comes with AT microcontrollers. I actually got Eagle a day or two after I posted this thread. Glad to see some use has come of it.
~Mike